Kempton Park’s scouts group needs help

Puleng Sekabate

Members of the 1st Kempton Park Scouts Group are striving to keep its doors open.
They are the last remaining scouts group in Kempton Park, and it is in need of the community’s assistance and involvement.
Nicolas Hornby, the chairperson, said they are dealing with a lot of challenges that hamper operations.
“Our building is under attack from continuous acts of vandalism. We fight vagrants who are trying to take over our property. Loitering and prostitution are also among the challenges we are faced with.”
Hornby also spoke of the many times they have had to repair the fence and replace the gate after being damaged and/or stolen.
“It is quite costly for us to keep replacing and repairing our fence and gate only for it to be stolen again. We are fighting hard to keep our doors open,” said Hornby.
“We have had cases where prostitutes approach those who drop of their children. This is unacceptable and we don’t want something like that to happen again.
“We want to continue teaching our children about life for them to become better people in society. There is absolutely nothing wrong with our operations, but the continuous attack on our facilities hinders us. We are an NGO and all these repairs and measures to safeguard our building comes out of our pockets.”
The chairperson said problems worsened at the beginning of the lockdown when the building was slowly being stripped.
He also mentioned Kempton Park used to house five other scouts groups that have closed down.
“There was the Norkem Park, Aston Manor, Rhodesfield, Airport and Edleen Scouts.
“Kempton Park Scouts used to be a powerhouse, collecting trophies at competitions regularly. Now we don’t even attend because of our group’s low attendance.
“We can’t do this alone and we need the community’s involvement. Any assistance would greatly be appreciated, even a security company willing to offer to monitor and patrol around our building would help.
“We have also considered the possibility of securing a different building. Any help from the community would be beneficial and welcomed.”
To assist or for more information email info@hornbytrading.co.za